Entrepreneurial orientation and its impact on firm growth amongst SMEs in South Africa

Problems and Perspectives in Management

Johan van Zyl¹  Brownhilder Ngek Neneh² 

[1] Ph.D., Director, Centre for Development Support, University of the Free State;Ph.D., Senior Lecturer, Department of Business Management, University of the Free State;

关键词: Entrepreneurial orientation;    innovativeness;    proactiveness;    risk-taking;    SMEs;    South Africa;   

DOI  :  10.21511/ppm.15(3).2017.14

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has been widely touted as a fundamental ingredient for enhancing firm growth. Consequently, this aimed at examining the impact of EO and its dimensional variables (innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness) on SME growth (employment, sales, and asset growth). Using information from 285 SMEs, the results obtained indicated that while EO had a significant positive association with SME growth (employment and sales growth), most SMEs show a moderate level of EO. Also, following the EO dimensions, the findings established the emergence of proactive innovation (a combination of proactiveness and innovativeness) which showed a significant positive association on sales growth. Risk-taking was the only factor that showed a significant influence on employment and asset growth. This study also showed that controlling for the effect of firm age on growth significantly reduced the error of predicting sales growth by 2.3%. This study culminates with recommendations on enhancing EO amongst SMEs in South Africa.

【 授权许可】

Unknown